| 3-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF A HAMMERHEAD RIBOZYME |
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| Author(s): PLEY HW, FLAHERTY KM, MCKAY DB |
| Source: NATURE Volume: 372 Issue: 6501 Pages: 68-74 Published: NOV 3 1994 |
| Times Cited: 801 References: 36 |
| Abstract: The hammerhead ribozyme is a small catalytic RNA motif made up of three base-paired stems and a core of highly conserved, non-complementary nucleotides essential for catalysis. The X-ray crystallographic structure of a hammerhead RNA-RNA ribozyme-inhibitor complex at 2.6 Angstrom resolution reveals that the base-paired stems are A-form helices and that the core has two structural domains. The first domain is formed by the sequence 5'-CUGA following stem I and is a sharp turn identical to the uridine turn of transfer RNA, whereas the second is a non-Watson-Crick three-base-pair duplex with a divalent-ion binding site. The phosphodiester backbone of the DNA inhibitor strand is splayed out at the phosphate 5' to the cleavage site. The structure indicates that the ribozyme may destabilize a substrate strand in order to facilitate twisting of the substrate to allow cleavage of the scissile bond. |
| Document Type: Article |
| Language: English |
Addresses:
1. STANFORD UNIV, SCH MED, DEPT BIOL STRUCT, BECKMAN LABS STRUCT BIOL, STANFORD, CA 94305 USA |
| Publisher: MACMILLAN MAGAZINES LTD, PORTERS SOUTH, 4 CRINAN ST, LONDON, ENGLAND N1 9XW |
| Subject Category: Multidisciplinary Sciences |
| IDS Number: PQ348 |
| ISSN: 0028-0836 |